Elizabeth Stone: I appreciated the interesting story/concept. I love the story of the Four Horsemen, and it was interesting to see how the tale of the apocalypse is applied to current events. However, the color of the text made it difficult to read against the gray background. The text on the photographs was small and also difficult to read. It would have been nicer to zoom in on that text. I think more on Sontag, who was briefly mentioned before the presentation, would have wrapped things up nicely.
Lorin Weaver: I love the fact that Lorin used personal photographs for the sake of consistency. She did a great job showing the correlation between her normal life and the normal lives of others. I wish she had spoken more about critics and her techniques. Ramage’s points on defamiliarization would have been helpful, since she used personal photographs, as well as the interpretive relationships.
Ben Miller: Again, I like that personal photographs were used here. Exploring the “butterfly effect” or “ripple effect” was an interesting concept. I like how time was shown and how the result of past decisions was shown side by side. There was an appropriate alternation of text-image-text. Ramage’s interpretive relationships works great with the images that show contrasting possibilities, based on past decisions.
Brandon Lalli: The idea here was to spread awareness on bills like SOPA and other governmental-based acts that seek to suppress the unlimited possibilities of the Internet. I love the references made to the V for Vendetta film. The manipulation of photographs involving the Guy Fawkes mask was great, and I laughed because I was familiar with the mask as well as its meanings online. I wish I could have heard more material with the critics and about the techniques you used as well as why.
Chandler Wilson: The concept explored in this VSP was the relationships between family members and the importance of family. I liked that different colored text was used to emphasize certain points. I would suggest spacing the photographs out a little more. There was great application of Ramage’s 3 parts of identity.
Danica Cantrell: This VSP explored cultural readymades and how they affect romantic relationships. The audience was very clear here: young women. The Disney cartoons were a great example of cultural readymades. There was plentiful application of the critics we have explored in class, including Sontag’s iterpretation of reality, Ramage’s interpretive relationships, and information from Shields.
Seth Eckman: It was very difficult to tell what the images depicted. I understand they were purposefully blurred in order to replicate what the drunken protagonist saw, but it was annoying nonetheless. The spelling of some words (gonna, wanna, gotta) annoyed me too, especially since education and writing was mentioned in the VSP as a key concept. However, the story is very relatable. There was nice application of Ramage’s defamiliarization in the presentation, and explanation of technique. Amber Howe: The presentation posed the question, “What is true love?” It was a cute set of images to use. I liked the idea of reinventing the readymade of “true love.” There was a clear audience for young women. I felt as though the use of critics was sufficient. However, I did notice problems with spelling. Some of the images were spaced too closely together.
Deanna Brown: The question posed in this presentation was, “When do parents stop following advice and start taking themselves seriously?” The presentation itself was solid, but I wish I could have heard more about critics and how they apply. There was a lot of jumping around—it was difficult to keep up and seemed disorganized. I could not see most of the smaller text.
Kelsey Shapiro: The presentation explored how music and identities are related. There was a great explanation of techniques used to influence the audience. Great use of critics and the argument that music “acts” as well, not just humans. Fantastic job.
Estelle Reidler: This presentation dealt with Edgar Allen Poe’s “Dream within a Dream.” It argued that humans use images like Ramage’s readymades to construct reality. The concept was fantastic. There was sufficient use of critics to support the project. The presenter defamiliarized herself from the images because she took them herself. However, the presenter moved too quickly through the presentation. I could not see all of the images as well as I would have liked to, and I did not manage to read all of the text.
Charlotte Moyer: The presentation dealt with the struggles of creative writing. The text was difficult to see in this presentation—it had problems with color and size. I liked that personal pictures was used. There was a lot of explanation on techniques, but not as much on critics, which is what I felt was missing from this presentation.
Jenny Mascaro: This presentation dealt with the story of a family aboard the Titanic. It contrasts sharply with James Cameron’s successful film. I could not see most of the text. There was no explanation of the techniques used or any information about critics.
4/30/2012: Presenter Responses
Elizabeth Stone: I appreciated the interesting story/concept. I love the story of the Four Horsemen, and it was interesting to see how the tale of the apocalypse is applied to current events. However, the color of the text made it difficult to read against the gray background. The text on the photographs was small and also difficult to read. It would have been nicer to zoom in on that text. I think more on Sontag, who was briefly mentioned before the presentation, would have wrapped things up nicely.Lorin Weaver: I love the fact that Lorin used personal photographs for the sake of consistency. She did a great job showing the correlation between her normal life and the normal lives of others. I wish she had spoken more about critics and her techniques. Ramage’s points on defamiliarization would have been helpful, since she used personal photographs, as well as the interpretive relationships.
Ben Miller: Again, I like that personal photographs were used here. Exploring the “butterfly effect” or “ripple effect” was an interesting concept. I like how time was shown and how the result of past decisions was shown side by side. There was an appropriate alternation of text-image-text. Ramage’s interpretive relationships works great with the images that show contrasting possibilities, based on past decisions.
Brandon Lalli: The idea here was to spread awareness on bills like SOPA and other governmental-based acts that seek to suppress the unlimited possibilities of the Internet. I love the references made to the V for Vendetta film. The manipulation of photographs involving the Guy Fawkes mask was great, and I laughed because I was familiar with the mask as well as its meanings online. I wish I could have heard more material with the critics and about the techniques you used as well as why.
Chandler Wilson: The concept explored in this VSP was the relationships between family members and the importance of family. I liked that different colored text was used to emphasize certain points. I would suggest spacing the photographs out a little more. There was great application of Ramage’s 3 parts of identity.
Danica Cantrell: This VSP explored cultural readymades and how they affect romantic relationships. The audience was very clear here: young women. The Disney cartoons were a great example of cultural readymades. There was plentiful application of the critics we have explored in class, including Sontag’s iterpretation of reality, Ramage’s interpretive relationships, and information from Shields.
Seth Eckman: It was very difficult to tell what the images depicted. I understand they were purposefully blurred in order to replicate what the drunken protagonist saw, but it was annoying nonetheless. The spelling of some words (gonna, wanna, gotta) annoyed me too, especially since education and writing was mentioned in the VSP as a key concept. However, the story is very relatable. There was nice application of Ramage’s defamiliarization in the presentation, and explanation of technique.
Amber Howe: The presentation posed the question, “What is true love?” It was a cute set of images to use. I liked the idea of reinventing the readymade of “true love.” There was a clear audience for young women. I felt as though the use of critics was sufficient. However, I did notice problems with spelling. Some of the images were spaced too closely together.
Deanna Brown: The question posed in this presentation was, “When do parents stop following advice and start taking themselves seriously?” The presentation itself was solid, but I wish I could have heard more about critics and how they apply. There was a lot of jumping around—it was difficult to keep up and seemed disorganized. I could not see most of the smaller text.
Kelsey Shapiro: The presentation explored how music and identities are related. There was a great explanation of techniques used to influence the audience. Great use of critics and the argument that music “acts” as well, not just humans. Fantastic job.
Estelle Reidler: This presentation dealt with Edgar Allen Poe’s “Dream within a Dream.” It argued that humans use images like Ramage’s readymades to construct reality. The concept was fantastic. There was sufficient use of critics to support the project. The presenter defamiliarized herself from the images because she took them herself. However, the presenter moved too quickly through the presentation. I could not see all of the images as well as I would have liked to, and I did not manage to read all of the text.
Charlotte Moyer: The presentation dealt with the struggles of creative writing. The text was difficult to see in this presentation—it had problems with color and size. I liked that personal pictures was used. There was a lot of explanation on techniques, but not as much on critics, which is what I felt was missing from this presentation.
Jenny Mascaro: This presentation dealt with the story of a family aboard the Titanic. It contrasts sharply with James Cameron’s successful film. I could not see most of the text. There was no explanation of the techniques used or any information about critics.